1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of ventilation hoods for island cooking stoves, especially portable hoods.
2. Description of Prior Art
Cooking stoves often have exhaust fans to remove cooking odors and heat. A common location for the exhaust fan inlet, especially on island stoves, is at the back of the cook top. The exhaust is channeled outside through ducts in the floor. However, due to the openness of the cooking area, fumes and heat are not efficiently collected. Instead, they escape into the room, adding odor and heat to the interior.
Several prior patents show portable hoods designed as spatter guards for stoves. Other hoods are shown for scavenging heat and exhaust fumes efficiently and directing them toward exhaust fans.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,078 (Etzcorn) shows a portable hood for stoves that have a protective cover hinged at the back, such as in motor homes. The hood comprises sides and a top which attach to the existing stove cover in its vertical position, and serves as a spatter guard. Various designs for portable folding spatter guards are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,563,078 (Silberman), 957,642 (Barker), and D303,909 (Stankus).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,279 (White) shows a deflector for cooking fumes, to increase scavenging efficiency of an exhaust fan inlet between the cooking elements. U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,122 (Kalenian) shows a removable hood for a counter top stove for channeling cooking fumes to an exhaust fan inlet located between the elements.
These prior devices are each useful in specific situations, but they do not provide all the benefits of the present invention as described below.